"I don't believe you," he hissed in her ear.

Mel struggled against his hold. Her voice was raspy when she wheezed, "Killing me is not going to save you. It will only make things worse."

"Shut up! With you dead and Lupe the outsider blamed for killing the baker because she only got her a tie in the cupcake competition, well, I win. There's no way they'll crown her Miss Sweet Tiara now."

"No one will believe it," Mel gasped. She clawed at the sash that was cutting off her airway.

"Sure they will," he said. "I had planned to shred Lupe's dress with a scalpel but someone came into the green room and interrupted me. But now, it's perfect. Clutched in your dead hand, those black roses should be all the evidence they need to charge her with your murder and Destiny wins."

"No!" Mel clawed at the sash that was tightening about her neck. Is this how Mariel had died? She couldn't catch her breath. Panic was making her scratch even harder at her own skin. She kicked behind her with her leg and heard him grunt when her foot connected with his shin. The sash loosened just enough for her to draw in some air.

She let go of the sash. Fighting his hold wasn't helping. She thrust her arms behind her, leading with her elbows, and aimed for his middle. She connected and he let out a whoosh of air. Again the sash loosened enough for her to get a breath.

She and Angie had taken self-defense classes, at Angie's brothers' insistence, and the one thing the instructor had said was that the best chance you have of fighting off an attacker in the very beginning was to put up a fight and be very difficult.

Mel took the words to heart and she kicked backwards and punched anything she could hit behind her. The sash fell from around her throat, as Brandon was so busy defending himself that he couldn't keep hold of it. Mel used his distraction to rip the sash away.

She stumbled away from him as she sucked air into her burning lungs. She looked for a weapon, but unless she was going to curl him to death with an electric wand, she was out of luck.

Brandon lunged for her, but Mel sidestepped. She saw Lupe's skateboard on the ground and she hopped over it, keeping it between them. He charged for her and Mel jumped back against the vanity. Brandon stomped onto the skateboard, which shot out from under him, sending him to the floor with a hard smack. Mel took the opportunity and ran.

She shoved through the door. Legs and arms pumping, heedless of her throbbing stitches or raw throat, she raced down the hallway toward the lobby. She could hear shouts and cheers coming from the ballroom. She dashed into the lobby to find her friends, but the cupcake tower stood alone, its mini-tiaras sparkling for no one.

Damn it! Tate and Angie must have gone in to see the crowning of Miss Sweet Tiara. Across the room, three men sat at the bar. Mel raced toward it. At the very least, the bartender could call the police.

She was halfway there when she heard Brandon enter the lobby behind her. His nose was bleeding and he was limping but he looked deranged and he was definitely coming for her.

"Help!" Mel cried. Her voice was gruff from near strangulation and it couldn't compete with the noise from the basketball game on the television over the bar. She tried again, her voice still not much more than a whisper.

Brandon reached a hand out to grab her when one of the men from the bar spun around as if his ears had heard her small cry. It was Joe. Seeing Mel in trouble, he raced forward and caught Brandon in a tackle worthy of an NFL linebacker. As they skidded across the floor and slammed into a table and chairs, the other two men at the bar turned to see what the ruckus was.

Mel was surprised to see that it was Manny and Steve. She pointed at Brandon and said, "It's him. He killed Mariel and he just tried to kill me."

The words were faint, but Manny heard her. He jumped out of his seat, pulling a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket as he went. Steve stood staring as if he couldn't believe what was happening.

"Number three, a little help here!" Manny called.

Joe was sitting on Brandon and using the opportunity to punch him, repeatedly. Steve raced forward and helped Manny haul Joe off of Brandon.

Once Manny had Brandon cuffed, he dragged him to his feet. Joe slumped against the front of a chair and Mel glanced at him and winced. He had a cut on his head from where it had connected with a sharp corner of a table, and blood was pouring down his face.

Mel grabbed a rag off of the clean stack from the bar and hurried to Joe's side. She knelt down and pressed the cloth to his head.

"You heard me?" she asked. She cringed, as her throat felt scraped raw.

Joe reached out and grabbed her hand. He laced his fingers with hers and then said, "Yeah, and then I saw some nut chasing my girl so I took him out."

"It was a good hit, too," Manny said. "I guess we know why you're number one."

Joe grinned and Mel rolled her eyes.

"You can't hold me," Brandon thrashed in his handcuffs. "You have no proof of anything."

"Except for the small detail that you admitted to me that you killed Mariel and tried to kill me the same way," Mel said.

Steve joined them with another bar rag, but this one had ice in it. "For your neck."

Mel glanced down and realized she'd clawed her own skin bloody, just like Mariel. She shuddered. She had come so close to losing everything. She tightened her hold on Joe's hand. As if he understood, he squeezed her fingers back.

"Can you tell me what happened, Mel, from the beginning?" Manny asked.

She nodded. She began by telling them about her conversation with Olivia about the free eye tuck, and Anka's confirmation that Mariel had a deal with Brandon for surgery. She said she had wanted to tell Uncle Stan about the free plastic surgery, and had been looking for him, when she found Brandon instead. She disclosed their horrifying conversation.

When she got to the part about Lupe's black roses, Manny put on a glove and searched Brandon's pockets until he found the crushed black velvet. Mel ended the story with Joe's tackle. Brandon argued and objected and called her a liar but Mel ignored him. The roses were evidence enough.

"One thing I can't figure out," Mel said. "What about the brick?"

"What brick?" Brandon asked.

"The one that sailed through my bakery window," Mel said. "Were you trying to hit Lupe?"

Brandon gave a harsh laugh devoid of humor. "Someone else gets the credit for that. My money would be on the mean redhead in need of a nose job. She's crazy."

Mel thought of Sarah Hendricks and thought Brandon might be on to something. After all, it took one to know one.

"Mel, I'll want you down at the station to give a statement as soon as you have Joe's head looked at," Manny said.

She nodded. She would do whatever it took to put Brandon Richards behind bars.

As Manny led Brandon Richards away, Steve fell into step behind them.

"Where are you going?" Joe asked.

"I'm number three, remember?" Steve asked. "I'm pretty sure my presence isn't needed unless Mel wants to reconsider the arrangement of the Order of Mel?"

Joe looked at Mel to see if she was interested but she just shook her head. Steve heaved a sigh and followed Manny out of the building.

Joe looked her over. His finger brushed the scratches on her neck and gently fingered the bruises. "I should have punched him harder when I had the chance."

"How's your head?" she asked. She pulled his hand away and noted that the bleeding had slowed.

"It's fine," he said. Big fat lie.

"Let's get you to the ER," she said.

"No, they're about to announce the winner," Joe said. "Let's go see if our girl nailed it."

They ducked into the back of the ballroom. The lights were low but the stage sparkled with all of the glamorous contestants, not to mention the huge glittery tiara suspended from the ceiling.

Mel scanned the crowd until she spotted her mother with Lupe's family, Marty, Oz, Ginny, and Joe's brothers, Paulie and Al. Tate and Angie were with them, but they were still lost in each other's eyes.

Joyce, Ginny, and Gloria looked tense as did Marty, Paulie, and Al, but Oz . . . Strangely enough, Oz looked perfectly relaxed and composed. His eyes were fixed on Lupe and Mel noted that their gazes met several times and when they did, Oz gave her a small nod of encouragement and she beamed.

"I think Oz is convinced that she's won it," Joe said.

"I think no matter what happens, she's his Miss Sweet Tiara," Mel said.

Cici Hastings strolled across the stage. She looked as glamorous as an old Hollywood movie star with her pile of platinum curls and her rose-colored gown that was beaded from her neckline to the floor-length hem, and sparkled with every move she made. She clutched three envelopes in her hand and Mel tightened her grip on Joe's arm as she realized this was it.

Cici paused by the microphone, and in a breathy voice, she said, "And now the moment we've all been waiting for." She tore open the first envelope and said, "The second runner-up for Miss Sweet Tiara is Jordan Hooper."

There was applause, and a cute brunette strode forward with a big smile and got her flowers and sash.

Cici returned to the microphone. "Our first runner-up for Miss Sweet Tiara is Destiny Richards."

Destiny was standing next to Lupe, and Mel watched as she turned and squeezed Lupe's hand before striding forward with a big smile to accept her sash and flowers. Mel saw a commotion near the stage and she wasn't at all surprised when Brittany looked as if she was going to storm the stage.

Destiny smiled and waved to the crowd, then she stepped forward and hissed, "Sit down, Mother, you're making an ass of yourself."

Like a real beauty queen, she then turned and walked with her head held high and stood next to Jordan.

"I like that girl," Joe said to Mel. "Her parents are awful, but I like her."

"Me, too," she agreed.

Brittany sat down with a sob, but the crowd grew quiet. Cici looked at the third envelope and then she looked at the crowd. "Are you ready to greet your new Miss Sweet Tiara?"

The cheer was deafening.

Cici began to open the envelope. "Ladies and gentleman, our seventy-fifth Miss Sweet Tiara is Guadalupe Guzman."

"Yes!" Oz shouted and punched a fist in the air. Joyce and Ginny hugged each other while Gloria and her girls jumped up and down. Paulie and Al hugged each other, although they broke apart immediately and then knuckle-bumped each other.

On stage, the girls nearest Lupe hugged her and pushed her forward. Mel watched Sarah Hendricks stalk off the stage. She was not at all surprised that the girl was a sore loser.

Cici greeted Lupe with a kiss on the cheek, draped her sash over her head, and handed her a big bouquet of pink roses while last year's Miss Sweet Tiara put her crown on Lupe's head. Lupe strode forward, walking the catwalk and waving to the crowd. She even blew a kiss to Oz. She looked as if she'd been born to wear a crown.

"She did it," Joe said.

A flash of white and black caught Mel's eye as Lupe strode forward. Mel grinned. Underneath her beautiful gown, Lupe was wearing her favorite black Converse high tops, and Mel knew that all the glitz and glam in the world wouldn't change their Lupe.

"She sure did," Mel said.

Thirty-three.

Mel waited beside Joe in the emergency room. She had texted Angie to have everyone meet back at the bakery for a celebration. She mentioned that she and Joe would be late but she didn't explain why.

Joe got four stitches on his head. Mel joked that they matched the four stitches on her leg. The doc looked at them as if they were a troubled couple, and Joe used his position as an assistant district attorney to explain that they had been swept up in a police investigation and had helped apprehend the bad guy. They gave the doctor Manny's name if he felt the need to verify their story. From the set expression on the doc's face, Mel had a feeling Manny would be getting a call.

While they waited in their curtained room, Mel paced and Joe rested. She watched an older couple shuffle past them to the next curtained partition and she wondered if that would be her and Joe in forty years. Probably not, if he never asked her to marry him again.

When the doctor had examined Joe, he had told them that Joe was lucky he hadn't taken a harder hit to the temple, as it could have caused bleeding on the brain or severe brain damage.

Joe had blanched but Mel had been hit with the sudden clarity that even if her man did get injured she would do everything she could to take care of him just like he had risked everything without hesitation to take down the man who was chasing "his girl."

She thought about what her mother had said, that her life would have been infinitely more tragic if she had never had Mel's father in it. The fear of losing Joe, while still very real for Mel, had lost its power when she realized that by pushing him away, she was losing him anyway. There were no half steps in a relationship. Either you were in or you were out.

She thought about her dad and how Tate had said he would be disappointed in her for not going after what she wanted. Then she thought about Tate springing the question on Angie out of the blue and how right it had been. Then she thought about how it was always Joe that she measured every man against and how every man fell short, even the really good ones.

"You're going to pace a hole in the floor," Joe said. He was reclined on the hospital bed, watching her. He looked pale and it made Mel's fear kick up in her chest. She smacked it back down.

Mel took his hand in hers and brushed his hair back from his forehead with her free hand. "Sorry."

"No need," he said. "What's on your mind, Cupcake?"

Mel looked at him. What could she say? That she had finally come to her senses and wanted to marry him, but he had quit asking her? Yeah, that wouldn't be awkward, especially if he had changed his mind. And what if when he found out that Tate and Angie were engaged, he thought her sudden change of heart was because she didn't want to feel left out? It wasn't true, but she could see how he might see it that way.

"I was thinking-" Mel was about to confess all when a nurse pushed back the curtain and entered their area.

"Mr. DeLaura, your discharge papers are all set," she said. "You're free to go."

"Thanks," Joe said as he sat up.

Mel studied him to see if he was woozy at all, but he rolled off of the bed as if he was just fine.

The nurse was listing off the things he had to watch for and Mel listened with half an ear as she followed him out of the hospital.

She was parked in a visitor's space near the door. She helped Joe into the front of her car and hurried around to the driver's side.

"Do you want me to take you home?" she asked.

"No, I want to see our girl," he said. "To the bakery."

"All right," Mel said. "But if you look woozy, I'm taking you home."

Joe gave her a small smile. The hospital was minutes from the bakery and when Mel parked in front of her new glass window, she saw that the window shades were down and the closed sign was flipped, but the jukebox was playing and it was easy to see there was a crowd in the joint.

"I'm glad we didn't miss the party," Joe said. He climbed out of the car and led the way to the door. Mel used her key to let them in.

And soon as they entered, Joyce pounced. "Dear Joe, are you all right?"